Listening Practice
by Kikyo-the-Walnut
Summary: Kagome's mother always said to be careful what you wish for. Too bad Kagome didn't listen.


Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, etc, etc…

>

The battle was over. Naraku was dead. And now Kagome was staring at the purple jewel in her hand. She was staring at it, remembering when her journey had first started. She sighed.

"Kagome-chan. What are you going to wish for?" Sango asked, edging in closer to take a look. Kagome stared at her too.

"Y-you're letting ME make a wish? Why?" she cried. "I didn't do anything. You should have it."

"No. You can," Miroku said, lifting over to clasp Kagome's unwilling hand around the Shikon no Tama. "Make a wish."

Kagome exhaled loudly and exasperatingly, and began to cry. "I only wish our journey wasn't over…"

The jewel grew brighter, and exploded into hundreds of pieces. Kagome- and everyone else- gaped. Inuyasha was the first to shake off the shock.

"You are SO dead," he growled, "After we finish finding these damned shards."

>

There was no Naraku this time. Which was certainly a relief to four angry people- a hanyou, monk, tajiya, and fox demon- and one very, very guilty person- a miko.

When the shards were collected, Inuyasha immediately snatched the completed jewel out of Kagome's hand. "You're NOT getting a wish this time," he informed her. "You're too irresponsible."

Kagome began to bawl loudly. "I promise I've learned my lesson! Please?"

Sango and Miroku exchanged uneasy looks. Should we? Kagome looked at them, and the sight of her tear-stained face was too much to bear. "Of course!" Sango faked a cheerful smile.

Kagome pocketed it. "I'll think hard about it," she assured the apprehensive group around her. "I won't make any wishes until I've consulted you."

But, somehow, Kagome made a wish in her sleep: _I never want to leave this world. _And the Shikon no Tama did the only thing it really knew how to do: break itself into tiny little pieces and zoom off to some random location for people to find.

Inuyasha wasn't too happy about this. Neither was anyone else.

>

Finally, finally, the Shikon no Tama was whole. Hopefully it would stay that way.

Now everyone knew better than to let Kagome near ANYTHING that could be wished upon. Even though she cried for three days straight, they refused to let her come within ten feet of it.

Problem now was: what to wish for? Kohaku was long gone, and so was the kazaana and Kikyo. Kaede too, come to think of it. So what could they want?

They could wish for the well to be open forever. But, upon reflecting, they decided that Kagome was a dangerous individual who needed to be kept away from the Sengoku Jidai. Because there were just too many problems that she could mess up even more.

Shippo, too, could notice it. He was no idiot. He had seen the gestures the last couple had given Kagome when she had "helped" them with their "problem."

Even Inuyasha was tiring of her. She was happy, helpful… and sure as hell the most annoying person on the entire planet. Except for Hojo, of course. But she was staring to look as if she was close to rivaling that.

To make a long story short, Kagome finally found a way to sneak around everyone and grab the jewel. Without thinking, she said aloud, "I want everyone to love me." Because she had noticed the grunts and drawn-out sighs too. _'I'm not an idiot!' _she thought angrily.

So, the next morning, Inuyasha woke up, and bounded over to Kagome. "I love you, Kagome! Let us never part!"

Kagome was creeped out by the cheesy smile she was getting. She turned around, and there were Sango and Miroku, with the same dopey looks on their faces.

"Kagome, you're so sweet! I wish I could be just like you," Sango gushed, as Miroku shouted, "Kagome, I love you more than anyone else!

Come with me to the fields of undying adoration!

We will dance the dance of the stars twinkling in the night sky!

And I will lay you down to rest, in the flowers of our love!"

Although Kagome thought that his poetry wasn't actually half-bad (the symbolism, though, was absolutely horrible. Flowers, for love? So passé.), she escaped from the madhouse, panting. She could hear Sango and Inuyasha screaming about their love for Kagome, and how much better it was than Miroku's. Kagome shuddered.

The unusually quiet village erupted when Kagome appeared outside. "Kagome! Kagome!" filled the air, and men and women alike pressed in around her with gifts and announcements of love.

Kagome started to enjoy this, but after a while, when the mob showed no signs of stopping, she ran. ("Ran like a startled fawn into the forest of protectiveness," Miroku's voice echoed. She groaned.)

Sesshomaru was there, holding roses. When he saw her, he came up and presented the flowers to her, and said, in a husky voice, "Did you know that the rose is a symbol of undying passion that cannot be denied?"

Not the symbolism shit again! This was beginning to sound like her English literature class!

Kagome bolted yet again. And then she discovered something miraculous. The Shikon no Tama was still with her! For unknown reasons, it was still there!

"I wish I didn't have anyone adore me like that!" she screamed. "I wish everything would go back to normal!"

The Shikon no Tama pulsed playfully, and a bright light flashed in front of her eyes. Kagome fell onto the grass.

Sesshomaru was still nearby. Kagome went over to him. "Why do you have roses in your hand?" she asked, feigning curiosity. _'Please, please work.'_

He threw them away and began to walk in the other direction. Kagome was so happy that she could have hugged him. Which she did.

"Get off me," Sesshomaru said, boringly. Kagome meekly slid down, down, down... Damn, that guy was tall! How high had Kagome jumped to get all the way up there!

Suddenly Sesshomaru went rigid. "Naraku," he whispered, and was gone.

Kagome was extremely confused. Naraku? He was dead. So why did Sesshomaru seem to have found and followed his scent?

Inuyasha, Sango, and Miroku came running up. "We left Shippo back at the village; Naraku is nearby!" Miroku explained quickly. Kagome stood, staring at him in confusion.

"Come on, Kagome!" Inuyasha urged her, and she numbly got on his back. _'How… why is he still alive?'_

Indeed, it was Naraku standing there. Kagome watched as Inuyasha charged, and suddenly felt the presence of many jewel shards in Naraku. She felt for her own piece, and over half was missing!

_'Maybe this was what the Shikon no Tama meant by "normal." Since we've spent most of our time collecting jewel shards from Naraku…'_

"Inuyasha, the shards are in his chest!" Kagome shouted. And as Inuyasha attempted to slice Naraku in half, Kagome thought, _'Now I'll be able to end this correctly… and make a good wish!'_

_ >_

A/N: Interesting…. Hmm… This was written on a spur-of-the-moment, half-formed idea, in less than an hour. That may be why it's so… odd…. (And this was written by Zora, not Fanta, for anyone who thinks otherwise.)

Please review.


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